Shanghai, Oct 10 (IANS) Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz showcased his dominance to make light work of Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of the Shanghai Masters to move into the third round here on Saturday.
Alcaraz donned a new look with a trimmed moustache and dominated the play at the net during the 66-minute encounter to extend his ongoing winning streak to seven matches, having recently lifted the Japan Open.
Speaking after the match, Alcaraz reflected on his new look. “It’s going to stay for the week,” Alcaraz said when asked about his moustache. “I always wanted to step on court at least once with a moustache. Before Tokyo with the team, we said, ‘If I win the tournament, we all have to do the moustache and play Shanghai with it.’ We’re having fun with it. It came to stay.”
Alcaraz used his attacking game to good effect as he nailed down 24 winners and also won 13 of the 20 points on net, far superior to the Argentine, who bagged eight winners and five of his seven net points.
“It wasn’t the plan at the beginning,” Alcaraz said about his aggressive game plan. “I tried to be ready and get used to the conditions. The speed of the court is very fast, which I like. Thanks to that, I started not very well, not getting the rhythm. So I tried to do something different.”
He came into the Shanghai Masters after winning the Japan Open, where he defeated Jiri Lehecka of Czechia in the final. That was his first title win since being out of action for four and a half months due to a wrist injury he picked up in April this year.
Alcaraz returned and made it to the quarterfinals at the US Open, where he lost to Ben Shelton, who was later defeated by Alexander Zverev in the final.
Alcaraz is now bidding to win his first Shanghai title, which is one of the three Masters 1000 events that the Spaniard has not won yet, with the other two being Canada and Paris.
He will face Zizou Bergs in his third-round clash and might face defending Shanghai champion Valentin Vacherot in the fourth round.
–IANS
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